Deep Breath
by like m old
Summary: Pixel digs a swimming hole on the edge of LazyTown. Someone needs a swimsuit, and someone else might need a temporary home. Rating may change to T later, if inspiration so moves me.
1. Speed Oh!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of LazyTown. To any nitpickers out there, my computer is set on Icelandic keyboard while I´m learning the language and is fussy. I can´t find some of my keys like the quotation marks, so please deal with it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sportacus was standing in front of a mirror in a dressing room at the local LazyTown sporting goods store. Under normal circumstances, he would be enjoying himself. Sometimes he would drop in to see what new sports equipment was in, or to pick up a new ball for the kids. But today was different.

Earlier, he had met Stephanie and Trixie coming out of the Town Hall visiting Stephanie´s Uncle Milford, the mayor. Stephanie was wearing a one piece swimsuit edged in white, with several shades of pink stripes. Sportacus blinked twice at Trixie. She was wearing a red bikini with orange polkadots.

'Hi, girls! Did LazyTown put in a pool when I wasn´t looking?'

'Hi, Sportacus! Not exactly. Pixel dug a big hole at the edge of town. He heard the weather report for all the rain we were supposed to get, and knew it would fill up in no time. Since the rain stopped yesterday, and it´s so hot today, we all thought we would try it out,' Stephanie explained.

'Hey, Sportacus, why don´t you come with us?' Trixie asked.

'Yeah! That would be so much fun! Please, Sportacus?' Stephanie begged.

Sportacus shrugged his shoulders and gave a lopsided grin. 'I...I don´t have a swimsuit.'

The girls looked startled for a moment then blushed slightly. Trixie recovered first.

'But, you CAN swim, right?' Trixie asked.

'Yes, but...' Sportacus thought about the kids swimming without anybody to watch them, and on the edge of town, too. 'All right. Give me fifteen minutes and I´ll be with you.' Sportacus grinned at the girls, then grinned bigger because they looked so happy. As the girls walked down the street, Sportacus headed for the sports store.

Sportacus had picked out several swimsuits and was trying them on. It didn´t help that the sales lady was hovering right outside the dressing room. He slowly stripped down and grabbed up the first pair of trunks. They were blue of course, but a wild pattern, like bermuda shorts. He imagined what the kids would think. Okay. Maybe. He quickly changed into the next one. Sportacus pulled it on and looked in the mirror. He gasped, turned light pink, and quickly reached for the next choice. Speedo´s were definately out. The kids would pass out from shock and require therapy the rest of their lives. He might as well go skinny-dipping as wear a speedo. He turned a deeper shade of red as he put on his final choice. Yes. This was it. This suit was perfect. It fit his body like a second skin. It was similar to a scuba diving suit, but was sleeveless and the legs stopped right above the knee. He zipped it up to his chin, put his hat back on, and positioned his goggles above his forehead. Smiling, Sportacus gathered up his superhero suit. Unbeknownst to the superhero, every rippling muscle in his body was emphasized.

He didn´t notice the appreciative gaze of the saleslady as he walked to the register, then out the door. He hoped the kids hadn´t jumped in the water hole yet. He hurried to catch up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Stephanie wiped the sweat from her forehead as she trudged along behind Trixie.

'Slow down, Trixie!' Stephanie gasped out. The humidity was high and the temperature was even higher.

'Come on, Stephanie, I want to jump in all that water.'

'Well, at least slow down _a little_,' Stephanie sighed.

'Move it, Pinkie!' Trixie laughed as she picked up her speed.

Stephanie continued behind Trixie. At the edge of LazyTown, the girls caught up with Stingy and Ziggy.

'...then I´m going to do a superman dive, and then a cannonball, and then a belly flop...'

Stingy interupted Ziggy, 'With all the candy you´ve been eating today, _all _your dives will probably be belly flops.'

Ziggy started in again, ' But the candy gives me lots of energy I can do anything I can dive from a housetop, or...or even the water tower I can keep going and going and going...'

Stingy turned to Stephanie and Trixie as they caught up to him. 'If he was pink and had long ears, he could get a job as a stand-in for the energizer bunny.' The girls shook their heads and chuckled.

Trixie added, 'With all the hot air he has bottled up inside, he should be able to float good.'

'Bottled up inside!' Stingy looked at her incredulously. 'Does that sound like it´s bottled up? If he was a soda pop he would have fizzeled out by now! He´s been like this since he woke up!' Stephanie and Trixie just laughed harder. They had the same picture in their heads. Ziggy sleeping peacefully, then Stingy shaking him to get up and get going. Stingy trying so hard to screw the lid back on, and Ziggy fizzing all over.

'Hey, guys! Come on in, the water´s great!' Pixel hollered from above them. He was sitting at the top of a slide when he spotted them. Ziggy was already climbing up the ladder.

'Hi, Pixel!'

'Ewwww, Pixel, the water is so muddy.'

'Awww, come on guys! It´s cool, and there aren´t any creepy crawlies in it.' Pixel finished by sliding into the water with a splash.

Ziggy was right behind him. 'Wheee! Look at me, I´m flying!' He shot down the slide head first, arms outstretched.

A second later Pixel surfaced, spewing water and laughing. 'Wow, that was so cool! You have to try it!'

Everyone watched for Ziggy. Just as a feeling of panic began to grip them, suddenly, Sportacus bounded out of the bushes, dropping his superhero suit next to a tree. He took in the scene before him and instantly knew his crystal had gone off because it was Ziggy in trouble. He pulled his goggles down and dived into the muddy water. The kids waited and waited for Sportacus to surface with Ziggy.

'Pixel, exactly how deep _is_ the hole?' Stephanie asked as her gut continued to knot.

'Uh, I´m not really sure, but i figure it´s a couple of stories deep.'

Stingy whispered to Pixel, '_How_ deep?'

Stingy, Trixie, and Stephanie looked at Pixel with enormous, frightened eyes. They turned back to the muddy water trying to spot any movement. And they waited.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chiba Apey - tag! you´re it! Dreamingofsportacus - get Robbie off the billboard!


	2. Cough It Up

Sportacus came shooting out of the water, Ziggy slung limply over one shoulder. They landed on the muddy edge of the water hole. Sportacus flipped Ziggy on his back, between Stingy and Trixie´s feet, as he slipped back into the water.

Pixel knelt down and tried turning Ziggy on his side. 'Help me, Trixie. We have to try to get the water out of the poor little guy.' Trixie pulled Ziggy further from the edge of the water and proceeded to help turn Ziggy.

'Hey! What do you think you are doing?' Stingy stood at Ziggy´s head, shaking from a mix of fright and anger. 'Ziggy is MY friend! I´ll be the one to help him, thank you!' Stingy shoved Pixel out of the way and began pounding on Ziggy´s back. Water spewed from Ziggy´s nose and mouth. Finally, he lay still, but breathing. Trixie carefully rolled him onto his back.

'How is he?' Sportacus asked. No one had noticed when he made it out of the water. Now he stood over the kids, who were standing over Ziggy.

'He´s alive. Thanks to you, Sportacus,' Stephanie answered.

Pixel frowned a little. 'And thanks to Trixie for helping me, and Stingy for beating the water out of him.'

'Yes, thank you, all three of you. Your quick thinking probably saved Ziggy´s life,' Sportacus added.

'But, Sportacus...' Stephanie began, but was cut off by Trixie.

'He´s so still and, and, quiet. That´s just not right.'

'I am sure he will be after some rest. I will take him home and make sure he will be alright.' Sportacus picked Ziggy up in his arms and started walking toward town.

'Wait for me, Sportacus!' Stingy ran to catch up with him. 'He´s my friend and I don´t want anything to happen to him.'

'Good. That is what friends are for. But Stingy, sometimes things happen that we can´t control, they just happen anyway.' Sportacus stopped and turned toward the kids left standing next to the water hole. He gave them his best serious look he could. 'There is also no reason to tempt fate. Kids, stay out of the water until I get back and can be your lifeguard. We were lucky with Ziggy, the next accident might not turn out okay.'

None of the kids moved. Sportacus frowned. He walked back and leaned toward them. His eyes, normally the bright blue of a clear Artic sky, were shooting icicle daggers. They had turned dark blue, the dark of the Arctic ocean. Those eyes pierced each child´s in turn.

'Trixie?'

'Awww, Sportacus! It´s hot out here! Oh shoot, okay. I won´t go in without a lifeguard,' Trixie agreed while rolling her eyes. She turned and kicked a clod of mud into the water, then went and sat in the shade of a tree.

'Stephanie?'

Stephanie stepped forward and ran her hand gently over the side of Ziggy´s face. She couldn´t believe how cold he felt. She put her hand over one of Sportacus´ holding Ziggy.

'I promise,' Stephanie nodded in agreement. Sportacus barely missed knocking Ziggy´s head into Stephanie as he stepped around her to face Pixel.

'Pixel?'

'But I dug it! I´ve been waiting for this since last year when I planned it all out in my head, then on my computer. I even created a new program to make sure is was structurally safe! Sportacus!' Pixel´s voice shook from frustration, at having to wait longer, and Sportacus thinking he was the only one strong enough, smart enough, or safe enough to lifeguard. Sportacus hadn´t moved. 'Fine. Sure. I´ll wait. Again.' Pixel joined Trixie in the shade of the tree.

'Thanks guys. I´ll be back as soon as I can.' He smiled at Trixie and Pixel as he turned to Stingy. 'Let´s go, Stingy. Let´s take care of _our_ friend.' Again, Sportacus almost ran into Stephanie. 'I´m sorry, Stephanie, better watch out,' he said as he waited for her to move out of his path. Then he carried Ziggy home with Stingy beside him all the way.

Stephanie stood watching them walk toward town in the haze of the afternoon heat. As they disappeared in a mirage ripple, she sat down next to Trixie and Pixel. The shade wasn´t helping much.

'I don´t see why we need a lifeguard, we´re not babies!' Trixie was still fuming. 'If only Ziggy hadn´t gotten hurt, we wouldn´t have to wait.'

'Trixie, that´s not fair. I wish Ziggy hadn´t gotten hurt, just because he´s our friend and I don´t like any of us to get hurt,' Stephanie protested.

'All this time I´ve dreamed about a place to swim, and I still have to wait.' Pixel pouted. 'A lifeguard, that´s all that´s between me and that water. Man.'

A voice from across the water hole startled them.

'Why are kids sitting in the shade when you could be swimming?'

The person speaking was wearing an old style swimsuit. It was navy blue with an anchor in the middle of the chest. The muscle style shirt didn´t really live up to its purpose, since the man had no muscles of which to speak. And the legs sticking out from the shorts were very skinny, and very pale. Despite the pale appearance of the entire figure, he had on a large straw hat, black glasses, and a glob of white zinc oxide on the tip of his nose. In one hand he carried a lawn chair with a pillow attached, and in the other he carried a life preserver.

The kids walked toward him slowly. As they got closer, Pixel could finally read the words around the anchor.

'Lifeguard! Hot dog!' Pixel jumped in the water. Trixie ran up to read the man´s suit, then dived in behind Pixel. Stephanie looked closely at the man. She looked longingly at the water, and then back toward town.

'What´s wrong pinkstuff? Do you need special permission to swim?'

'Who are you?'

'Just call me Rob the Rescuer. Lifeguard at your service.' The man grinned, a little strangely, but Stephanie decided it was okay. She looked back at town once more, then lifted her chin and yelled as she jumped in.

Rob the Rescuer, alias Robbie Rotten, stretched out on his chair, and readied himself for if not a quiet nap, a nap nonetheless.


	3. Rob the Rescuer

When Robbie Rotten decided to become Rob the Rescuer, he thought it might provide an opportunity to get back at Pixel for making all that ghastly noise while digging the hole. It had only taken Pixel a day, but Robbie had lost a good ten hours of nap time.

At one point, while Robbie was pacing in fury at the noise and rumbling, it had sounded as if Pixel was coming through the wall! Robbie had backed away from the wall running, and tripped over his orange chair. The chair flipped backwards, and Robbie was trapped beneath. As his lair shook with another rumble, he decided that was the safest place he could be.

"I meant to do that," Robbie´s voice had vibrated with the room.

Now, settled in the lawn chair, with his hat and dark sunglasses, in the shade of the tree, Robbie pulled out a piece of gum and started chewing with the fury he recalled.

"Little brats," he mumbled.

He was watching the kids playing and swimming with delight. He smacked the gum a few times. He tested a bubble. He watched as it grew bigger, then just as he ran out of breath, it popped. Robbie spent several frustrating moments pulling and scraping the gum off his sunglasses so he could see. It probably would have helped if he had thought to take the glasses off to do it. But it didn´t occurr to him. Finally the gum was back in his mouth. He chomped a minute more, then pulled the gum out, divided it into two huge wads, and carefully stuck them over his ears.

He sat up straight and listened. Yes, he could still here them, but oh, so much less! Robbie laid back in his chair, sighing relief, and prepared to enjoy a nap. He drifted off to dreamland, oblivious to the churning and cheering from the kids.

"Hey, guys!" Pixel treaded water while trying to get Stephanie and Trixie´s attention. "I know we´re having a great time, but I think I need a break. And a snack."

Trixie looked at the sun still beating down. "My stomach has been rumbling, so a snack sounds good. It´s getting hotter and I´m getting tired."

"So, we´ll take a break and meet back here in an hour?" Stephanie asked. "I really want to see how Ziggy is doing, too." Stephanie said. She almost said Ziggy and Sportacus, but she wasn´t so sure she wanted to know how Sportacus was. She was terribly confused by his actions earlier.

The three children slipped and clawed their way out of the water.

"Geez, Pixel, don´t you think you could have found a way to make getting out easier, at least less messy? I feel like I´m about to become a statue!" The mud on Trixie was already beginning to dry like concrete.

"Hey, Trixie, Pixel." Stephanie turned toward the lifeguard. "What about Rob the Rescuer?"

They walked over and leaned above the sleeping lifeguard. A hot breeze blew some flower petals over them and several landed on Robbie. The kids jumped back when he reached out and clawed the air growling. His feet and legs were twitching, too.

"I think we should let Rob the Rescuer sleep."

"I agree."

"No argument here."

Robbie emitted another deep growl in his sleep, adding, "I want you _gone_!"

The kids turned and took off running toward town.

With a start, Robbie bolted upright, his hat flying into the bushes behind him.

"Eeek! What was that?" Robbie was trying to breathe and calm the wild beating of his heart. His eyes focused on the water before him and he remembered where he was. He whipped off the sunglasses.

"Where did those annoying kids go?" He peeled the gum from his ears. He listened, but couldn´t hear anything but the rustle of the leaves in the tree. He started to pop the gum back in his mouth, but sniffed it, and decided against it. Instead, he dropped it in the bushes behind his chair. Robbie stood up to go home. Realizing he was missing his hat he looked around.

"Ah ha! There it is! Wait...what´s this?" Robbie gingerly lifted blue material between thumb and forefinger. "Sportadork´s hero suit!" His eyes had grown round with realization, then suddenly narrowed. "Hmm. It wasn´t very responsible of him to leave his suit lying around where anyone, meaning me, could find it. I wonder what would happen if SportyElf´s crystal got...wet." Robbie wadded up the suit into a tight ball, hugging it close to his chest. He slinked to the edge of the swim hole and hurridly shoved the suit down into the water.

Robbie watched as it disappeared into the muddy darkness. The more it disappeared, the bigger his smile became. Suddenly, the suit began to resurface.

"What? No. No! Go away!" Robbie looked around frantically. He found a large log, dragged it over to the edge of the water, and rolled it onto the suit. The suit sank below the weight of the log. "Hah! It worked, it worked!" Robbie stood up proudly. "I´m a genius. I told it to go away, and it went away. Hah. Brilliant."

Another gust of wind blew flower petals across Robbie as he headed home for a snack. He was trying to remember something from his dream.

"It must be all this fresh air," Robbie sniffed and scowled. "It´s giving me wierd dreams. Why would I dream it´s raining flower petals? And I certainly wouldn´t be chasing Stingy in a dinosaur suit, that disguise is too hot. Although, getting rid of Sportabuff would be nice." Robbie smiled at the thought, then whimpered when he remembered Stephanie coming at him with a bat to save Sportacus. "For being such a girly-girl, she swings a mean bat. Come to think of it, this disguise isn´t too comfortable, either." Robbie adjusted his suit, which was giving him a wedgie, then slid home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sorry to be so late with an update. Between doing grade cards, actually teaching, and working to help get Stefan Karl´s Rainbow Children off the ground here, time to write has been a limited commodity.


End file.
